1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to seats for automobiles, and more particularly to the automotive seats of a type equipped with one or more arm rests.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Utility Model First Provisional Publication No. 58-80059 shows one conventional automotive seat assembly equipped with an arm rest. As is shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, the conventional seat assembly 100 disclosed in this reference comprises generally a seat 102, a seat sliding device 104 and an arm rest device 106. The seat assembly 100 illustrated is arranged beside another seat assembly 108 with the arm rest device 106 located therebetween.
The seat 102 includes a seat cushion 102a and a seat back 102b which is pivotally mounted to the seat cushion 102a through a known inclining mechanism (not shown). Designated by numeral 102c is a base frame of the seat cushion 102a.
The seat sliding device 104 comprises parallel stationary rails 104a (only one is shown) mounted on a vehicle floor (no numeral), parallel movable rails 104b (only one is shown) axially movably disposed on the stationary rails 104a, and a known latch mechanism (not shown) for latching the movable rails 104b at a desired position relative to the stationary rails 104a. The movable rails 104b are connected to the base frame 102c of the seat cushion 102a through brackets 110 (only one is shown).
The arm rest device 106 comprises front and rear links 106a (only one is shown) which are pivotally connected at their lower ends to front and rear portions of the movable rail 104b. An arm rest proper 106b is pivotally connected at its front and rear portions to the upper portions of the front and rear links 106a, so that the arm rest proper 106b is swingably movable between a raised operative position as illustrated by a solid line and a lowered inoperative position as illustrated by a broken line. Suitable stoppers are fixed to the bracket 110 to assure positioning of the arm rest proper 106b at the raised and lowered positions.
However, the seat assembly 100 described hereinabove has a drawback in that when the arm rest proper 106b is lifted up to its raised operative position, the front and rear links 106a become visible or exposed through a clearance between the seat cushion 102a and the arm rest proper 106b, thereby spoiling the external appearance of the seat assembly 100. Furthermore, the pivotal movement of the arm rest device 106 has the potential for pinching the seat occupant's finger or fingers in the pivotal links 106a.